Update: see the stuff...-----------This was a little design concept I created for fun. Here are a few NEW ideas I'd like to bring up for v8:

1) Font changesVeranda and Trebutchet MS has look nice on deviantART, but what about trying better fonts? Like Klavika for the headers, and Segoe UI/Helvetica Neue for the body. If the visitors don't have these fonts installed, there's always Webfonts and fallback fonts. We're not in the past, we're in the future. Thanks to =TheMasterNeko for giving me the idea of WebFonts!2) Live top barOkay, so we all like the bar that tells us our messages and stuff. But what about the messages and the "friends" pulldowns we rarely click? It makes common sense to remove the text..Also, it shall be the same size of the same coloring, but with the message counts auto-updating and yellowed if something new occurs. It should also be hidden if you choose to... The search box should have an option to search everything, art, journals, faves, and daily deviations or so, that's why I included the icon next to the search button!3) Awesome left sidebarIt seems like we only use the left on the page for looking up categories and browsing groups. What about the other links? That is why the links need replacement!3a) Awesome channelsCarefully chosen links and frequent places should represent the links on the left, along with integrating browsing modes and search! After all, dA needs to be adaptive to its users!3b) Awesome category hoverIt's really time-consuming when you want to browse a sub-category far in because you have to click, wait for the page to load, click, wait for the page to load... and SO ON! Demonstrated above is a mouse hover of the "Contests" category, which is self-explanatory!3c) Awesome adCastOkay... is appears that the ads on dA are a little too overboard. There's Google Ads, Ads that download, Ads that redirect, Ads that tell you to shove a pencil up your ***, and the really attractive Ads. What about if we improved AdCast so that it follows the "yogurt" (facebook-like) model? A simple image, link, author, and... some nice links saying "upgrade" "advertise" "report". Simple enough... and all ads are community OR sponsor-based. This model sure beats banner ads!3d) Awesome left footer and hoverOn the bottom left corner (or at least for Seamless mode--discussed below) the footer should be condensed and the Points balance along with the links to the shop and deviantWEAR should be move to down here. Also with the footer links, when you mouseover this area, the links should expand, showing more links.4) Great surfing modesThere should be more ways to browse deviations! Here's a rundown of what each mode does:Standard - It's like dA, as of today. Options to show different amounts of deviations per page, and scrollable if there are more deviations than the amount that can fit the page.Seamless - A view that has pagination based on the Google Chrome's new tab page, and somewhat stolen from GMail. Compact, Classic, Comfortable, Cozy are the options that change the spacing and size of the deviations displayed. This view shows only the amount of deviations that can fit the pageMosaic - self-explanatory, like a jam-packed wall of deviations, no deviation titles or categories displayed-- just the images! To be shown in a different conceptWall - Cooliris-like [link] browsing, although Cooliris already support deviantART, it would be better to make a HTML5 based wall that works without a plugin installed.SitBack - an in-page slideshow that is as big as the gallery area.Advanced - custom CSS, JS, and stuff. Not sure why I put that there... lol5) Improved searchThe browsing experience and the search itself needs improvement, to be demonstrated in a later concept.6) CSS3 shadowsI notice that deviantART either puts in square/rectangle shadows or no shadows for deviations. Why not use CSS3 for the shadows (see the llama and :happy: above) for the deviations instead of coming up with server-generated placeholders? It saves resources and makes the page load somewhat faster.7) Community news tickerIf the use is browsing in Seamless mode, then a news ticker is shown at the bottom of the page, showing the popular articles in a random order. Can be hidden by choice.8) Built-in dAmnAs shown in the bottom-right corner, there's dAmn chat with #devart. To be shown in a later concept.9) BetterTablet Support Brought in by =Ben-Anderson, I admit, a more stream-lined design should help deviantART A lot! Only does a compact option show more deviations per page, a seamless experience assures the same experience throughout any device!10) Freedom of customization Last of all, deviantART's users need the right to customize deviantART itself. Right now in v7, deviantART lacks this freedom... somewhat. Now, it's up to the :dt: team to see what they'll let the users customize, but there are many things that can be customized: color, font, sizes, layout, etc!

Total time: 1.4 hoursMore concepts will be posted soon (browsing/search/mosaic/messages/today/etc), so hang tight!--------------------------------------------------------Source file (PowerPoint 2007+, in an odd way... could have used Photoshop) available for download. Under a Creative Commons license, so FEEL FREE to edit but please retain the credits! this? Remember to , donate , and suggest this as a DD! Leave feedback (good or bad) below if you want to!

i mean, wont the clothing get in the way? or does the left bar get bigger if you have 1000, or 10000+ points? mostly because i have high amounts of points and, that would kinda get in the way? I think an option to exclude it from the design should be considerable right? when livestreaming, i dont want ppl to see my points amounth tho, or you will get beggers

Nice point! I guess that if there are more points than the amount that can fit, it might as well be hidden. And with the livestreaming... I guess that something in the options should hide the point count!

Keep in mind that for those of us with slower connections (if they still exist), all these options could slow the main page's load time (having an extremely fast interwebs, I would have no idea ). I suspect that this would be accounted for in some of the browsing options (like standard) so good job!I don't know why they haven't upgraded to CSS3 yet (because it's awesome )I know all the options wouldn't be open at one time, but the deviations are... placed very close together. Might be the resolution, since I'm used to widescreen.Your idea on ads is awesome. 'nuff said. It actually LOOKS professional and not like an eyesore that I need PM to ward off.

And I'm not sure if this is available now or not, but being able to PIN the menu to the top of my browser would be VERY helpful! Especially when I'm reading a long deviation and want to scroll back up to click on, say, help & FAQ to check something, or on messages. :S

About the people with slower connections, The page load overall should be faster because of CSS3 gradients and shadows... almost everything on this page you view is image-based and if we could draw shapes/borders with CSS3 the pageload would be faster, theoritally. Also, the shadows are server-generaged [link][link] and if we use CSS3 instead of dA servers...

And my concept is much open. As you see in the upper-right corner of my concept, there is a density setting! It's for adjusting the deviation sizes and packness for different opinions on how deviations should be view.

A compact view such as this would be far better suited for a tablet device that have far smaller screens and touch finger input. Having the side bar fold away and be available anywhere would be even better.

I think it's nice, but deviantArt uses Trebuchet MS and Verdana instead of fonts like Klavika because only those who have Klavika would be able to see it. If the user doesn't have Klavika, then it shows as Calabri. However, everyone's computers have Verdana and Trebuchet MS.